Conversation with Gavin Rossdale on Kids Music

Above is the link to the conversation I had with Gavin Rossdale about being a dad/rock star. I'll be using quotes from this conversation later this week in my podcast when I discuss what songs to play for kids. One of the best resources for children's music is the WXPN show Kids Corner where I interned during college. They've always got cool stuff.

Here are five of my favorite songs for kids:

Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by They Might Be Giants

S-A-F-E-T-Y Dance by Men Without Hats

Old Dan Tucker by Bruce Springsteen

One Love by Bob Marley

Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys by Willie Nelson

As for some cooler "kids-only music" I've always been partial towards The Wiggles. I interviewed them for Day to Day a couple years ago.

Let me know if you have any suggestions for cool songs that aren't too annoyingly "kiddy" that you like.

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What Would Rob Do to Score a Hot Ticket?

Washington, DC is now full of excitement for an event that's a good two and half months away: the inauguration of our 44th president, Barack Obama. Maybe you're thinking it would be great to come see the historic moment in person and maybe you've heard that tickets are actually free. But wait a second because it might not be that easy.

Hotels have already sold out, ballrooms booked, and there's even a new market out there for DC residents to offer up their homes for the event. One listing on Craigslist had three nights at a Georgetown house going for $15,000! In case you're wondering, the Sachs family abode will not be available. There's no amount of money that's worth the headache my wife and I would endure if we messed with our nine month old's sleep schedule for three nights.

But the real bonanza here is not the rental market, it's the ticket market, and money is not the impediment, since these tickets are free. The catch is you have to get them from your local congressman or senator, and tickets are limited. They only have a couple of hundred each to give out.

Continue reading "What Would Rob Do to Score a Hot Ticket?" »

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Gavin Rossdale: Rocker Daddy

Today I'm interviewing Gavin Rossdale, formerly of the band Bush, known for their guitar-heavy hits like Machinehead. These days, Rossdale has gone solo, and perhaps a little less gritty, with his new album Wanderlust that includes a pretty cool rock ballad called "Love Remains the Same."

But while comebacks always make for good interviews, what I'm going to be speaking to him about is music that's appropriate for kids. Rossdale and his also famous wife Gwen Stefani (of the band No Doubt) recently gave birth to their second son, Zuma. Their first son, Kingston, is two years older than Zuma. I'll be asking Rossdale what kind of music a "cool" dad plays for their kids? I'm wondering if they play their kids any of their own music. Surely the No Doubt song "Hey Baby" is on their kids' playlist.

According to People Magazine, one thing Rossdale hasn't done yet is follow in the footsteps of other musicians who have written songs for their kids. Rockers who have done this include Paul Simon with his song Father and Daughter, Stevie Wonder with his song Isn't She Lovely?, and Paul McCartney with his song 222, which is dedicated to his four-year-old daughter, Beatrice Milly.

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Ding-a-Ling

For this week's podcast, I looked into how to deal with dents and dings in your car. I did some research on car repair and found out a few interesting things:

1) There's a relatively new industry out there of paintless dent repair and it seems to be vastly cheaper than taking your car to an auto body shop. I talked to Eddie Martin today, the owner of The Dent Devils which is based in San Diego, CA. He says his jobs start as low as a hundred bucks for a repair that you'd be lucky to pay around $250 for if it was done as a new paint job.

2) I found out that despite other people's assertions, there is a catch to the 3M Invisible Film method, which Martin says is easy to screw up. The 3M company actually recommends having a pro install it for you. But from what I've found online, it looks a lot people have had success with it.

3) Martin also says beware of those suction dent removers as they can sometimes cause your dent to pop out the other way and then you've got a big old mound on your car. Doesn't it look like so much fun though?

4) Lastly, if you're thinking that taking up two spots in a parking garage will help protect your car from door dings, think again.

That's all for now, look for my podcast to post Friday afternoon.

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Election Day on the Move

Last week while my wife and I were walking through Center City Philadelphia, we encountered a driving preacher. And by driving preacher I mean literally a guy using a PA system strapped to the roof of his car to preach his message. We both remarked how it seemed kind of silly to be preaching this way since most people would only catch a snippet or two of his message before his car was out of earshot.

I think a better use of the speakers definitely would have been for getting out the vote, something where he'd be repeating one message over and over. Like the kind Goldie Wilson used when running for Mayor in Back to the Future. Or better yet the kind that The Blues Brothers used to get some promotion for their concert. I didn't seen any speakers mounted on cars for yesterday's election, but this week I saw something way cooler. A moving video billboard truck. I guess this is the new generation of mobile electioneering.

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Halloween and Thoughts on the Next WWRD

I was thinking more about idea for dressing up as ALF tonight, but then I realized perhaps I would be better off dressing up as ALF's taller greener cousin, The Phillie Phanatic.

I just have to work on his moves a little. Hey you might even catch me on TV, I'll be at one of the milion plus fans expected to attend the Phillies parade today. (See I convinced Michel Martin afterall.) She also let me do a post on the Tell Me More blog yesterday concerning the Phils.

But on to more dilemmas, driving home yesterday I found myself staring at one of these bumper protecter things hanging off the back of the car in front of me. At first I thought, man that looks stupid, but then I thought perhaps this isn't such a bad idea; my bumper is pretty banged up. I was wondering though is this really the best way to protect my car? Or maybe I should just be parking more strategically? What about door dings? Anyway to protect against those? And do those suction gadgets that promise to remove dents really work? OK I'm going to research this a little more for next week.

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Halloween is Coming

This is the kind of costume that only works when they lack the verbal skills to protest.

Babystyle.com

With all the hoopla over baseball and weather this week (and believe me I'm watching every minute of it), Halloween snuck up on me and now I'm wondering how to properly celebrate. My wife and I have been invited to a number of events surrounding Halloween (well, my infant daughter was invited and we're just tagging along). This has led me to the question of what to wear. Today on Tell Me More we did a segment that discussed appropriate kids costumes. Apparently, there are some really sleazy costumes for girls out there. I can only pray that when my daughter grows up, she never feels inclined to dress as a French Maid. At least at this age (a mere 9 months old) my little princess has the cutest costume imaginable (see pic above).

Among my news-conscious colleagues, dressing up as people of the moment seems to be a popular idea. Already sales of Sarah Palin costumes are through the roof. While it's always a winning choice to take from current events, I prefer to follow the Sachs family tradition of one liner costumes. Let me explain what I mean. My mother once dressed up as a witch and sewed little bags of sand on her costume. She called herself a "Sand-witch." Along those lines, I once duct-taped a small plate to my chest, attached fake bird wings to it, and called myself a flying saucer. These are meant to illicit that Alf kind of "Ha!" reaction.

Unfortunately, I think my flying saucer got more blank stares than guffaws. Extreme skimpers could always follow Adam Sandler's Crazy Sneaker Hand costume, but where's the challenge in that? In addition to trying to be clever, I refuse to take the easy way out. Personally I take a MacGyver-inspired approach to Halloween costumes. Here are the rules:

1) All costumes should be bought at the local drugstore.
2) You can spend no more than 15 minutes making your costume.
3) Your total budget cannot exceed five bucks.

So what exactly can you make with hair gel, the tube from a roll of paper towels, and a little cat stuffed animal? I know! Alf!

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What to Cheer With?

"Let's see them ring this bell"

D.C. Lowe, Getty Images

I've been reading up on the Tampa Bay Rays and their fans, who have a penchant for ringing a cowbell at their games. The tradition started in 2007 after a giveaway during the game. Apparently, the Rays owner Stu Sternberg is a big fan of Will Ferrell and the More Cowbell SNL skits.

In any case, this type of cheering (usually reserved for downhill ski racing) is completely annoying, but I guess could possibly be motivating for the Phillies. In 1993, they had to face that annoying, and borderline racist, Tomahawk Chop when they played the Braves in the NLCS. In more recent times the Phillies have adopted towel waving, which looks cool on TV but can hardly be called "a Philly Thing." Dodger fans this season were also big towel wavers.

The closest thing Philly fans can call their own is the Eagles fight song "Fly Eagles Fly" which was created by the team itself but has been adopted more or less wholeheartedly by the fans. A few entrepreneurial fans also tried to market a cheesesteak head in response to Green Bay's cheeseheads, but that never really caught on.

But one really cool tradition that Citizens Bank Park kept from the old Veterans Stadium is the practice of lighting up the giant Liberty Bell every time the Phillies hit a home run. That gives me an idea. Maybe Phillies fans could bang on replica liberty bells as a rally cry. One problem though, it might sound weird, you know, with the crack and all.

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WWRD Foul Ball

Click "play" above to listen to my latest podcast on how to catch a foul ball. I get a lot of great advice in this episode from Zack Hample who is, hands down, the foul ball master with 124 foul/homerun balls in his collection. You'll also hear helpful tips from usher Rick Neave and ballgirl Stephanie Kelley, who both work at Nationals Park here in Washington, D.C.

The subject of foul balls segues nicely into that other topic that's been on my mind all week -- the World Series, or more specifically the fact that the Phillies have made it there for the first time since 1993. For all those unfortunate Philadelphians who won't be attending a live game, there is still hope. My wife found this amazing website that lists all the Philly bars around the country. As a 215 ex-pat I can honestly say having a few South Philly dudes nearby to high-five is a must when watching a game. "Yo! Did yous see that homerun?!?"

I have to give a shout out to the great home away from home that I found while living in LA, The Shack in Santa Monica. I'm still looking for a good DC spot though.

I'm confident that this is the year, and I hope I'm right. And just for the record, should there be any parading down Broad Street this year, I definitely won't be watching from my living room. I've already informed the staff here, I'm not going to make it to work that day.

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Sharing the Love

This picture nicely sums up my feelings for the day.

Stay tuned for my podcast tomorrow on "How to Catch a Foul Ball." I recorded it today with Mike Pesca, turns out he has snagged both a foul ball and a foul puck...dang.

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